Guest post by
Suresh Kumar, Assistant
Secretary for Trade and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial
Service.

Today, I had the opportunity
to travel to West Virginia to discuss progress on President Obama’s National
Export Initiative (NEI) and the promotion of U.S. manufacturing exports. As
many of you might know, the NEI, announced in 2010, aims to double U.S. exports
by the end of 2014. I’m glad to report that the NEI is off to a good start. Exports
last year comprised 12.5 percent of GDP, up from the 11.2 percent recorded in
2009.

In West Virginia, exports of
merchandise grew 34 percent in 2010 -- double the national growth rate of 17
percent for goods and services. Thus far for 2011, the U.S. remains on pace to achieve the
NEI goal.

The NEI is critical because we need to get more U.S.
companies to export so that we can bolster our economy and support new jobs
here in America. Of America’s 30 million companies, less than 1 percent export,
and of those that do, 58 percent only sell to one market. The NEI helps creates
deep market linkages and connects innovation to the marketplace. It also works
to inform U.S. companies of their export potential, and the U.S. Government and
private sector services available to help them sell internationally.

Export Assistance at
Work

The International Trade Administration’s U.S.
Commercial Service (CS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce operates a global
network of 108 U.S. offices and locations in more than 75 countries comprising more
than 1,400 trade specialists that provides U.S. business comprehensive, soup to
nuts service and programs

West Virginia is an excellent example of how CS
counseling and collaboration with businesses and state and local governments is
resulting in many export sales for U.S. companies. Last year, CS offices in
West Virginia offices recorded 53 export successes totaling more than $11
million.

Without manufacturing, transportation would mean walking barefoot. Without transportation (and manufacturing), there would be no global economy. Fortunately for us, there are trains, trucks, planes, bikes and cars (and shoes!), all of which need to be made. So do bridges, roads, terminals, safety signs and tracks. All these seemingly disparate things work in concert to create the economic systems that keep America buying and selling and building and moving.

And, fortunately for our country, most, if not all, of the transportation infrastructure and supporting transportation equipment can and perhaps should be manufactured here. Transportation is not an end in itself. It’s a means to achieving American manufacturing and economic prosperity — a very big and very important means.

I know that American manufacturers can make anything and everything. The problem is matching manufacturing capability with long-term, predictable business opportunities that make sense.

Guest post by Rep. Steny Hoyer, Minority Whip of the U.S. House of
Representatives

American manufacturing helped make this the most
prosperous country on earth—and it helped build a strong middle class. As we
continue to focus on job creation and economic growth, I believe a key part of
that effort must be rebuilding our manufacturing strength. That’s why House
Democrats have created the Make It In America agenda: it’s about
creating the conditions for American businesses to innovate here, create jobs
here, make products here, and sell them to the world—and about making sure we
have a workforce qualified for well-paying jobs. I believe strongly that when
we make more products in America, more families will be able to Make It In
America, as well.

Even as much of our economy has struggled, the
manufacturing sector has consistently added jobs—it’s been a bright spot for
our recovery. But the news isn’t all good. Manufacturing employment is still
near its lowest point since World War II. And more worryingly, the index of
manufacturing activity—a measure of the sector’s productivity and growth—fell
sharply last month, to its lowest point since fall of 2009.

Whether or not you work in manufacturing, that ought to
concern you for a number of reasons. Manufacturing stimulates more activity
across our whole economy than any other sector—so a fall in manufacturing
activity is felt across the economy, which is bad for all of us. It’s also bad
for the middle class because manufacturing jobs pay better-than-average wages,
and it’s bad for America’s competitiveness because China has overtaken us as
the world leader in the dollar value of manufacturing output. Last but not
least, a decline in manufacturing is bad for American innovation. As
assembly lines move overseas, innovation often follows to be closer to
production. That’s resulted in America losing the innovative lead in a
number of technological fields, from precision optics to photovoltaic cells to
computer chips—we can’t afford to lose ground elsewhere.

I
had the pleasure of addressing the National Conference of Black Mayors 2011
Legislative Policy Summit in Washington, D.C. today. I focused on what the Obama administration is doing to grow local economic ecosystems and help create jobs, particularly in manufacturing.

The
summit of almost 40 mayors from across the nation was a great opportunity for
intergovernmental collaboration and provided an excellent platform to share best practices and discuss the challenges of creating jobs and increasing
competitiveness.

As
a former mayor myself, I understood the pressing issues facing these leaders.
They are the same issues the Obama administration is aggressively tackling at
the federal level. And they all boil down to creating more jobs, particularly
in manufacturing.

The
manufacturing sector currently employs over 11 million Americans, providing
good-paying jobs for millions of families. Preparing Americans to enter into
the manufacturing sector will not only strengthen the economy and put folks
back to work, it’s critical to our nation’s success as we compete in a 21st century global economy.

Exports
are a key part of any competitiveness agenda. Ninety-five percent of the world’s
consumers live outside of the United States. With the right tools and resources,
manufacturers can increase their exports and find new customers.

Many
of these manufacturers don’t have the resources to conduct extensive research
on new possible export markets. Small and medium-sized firms, for example,
account for 95 percent of all exporters in the U.S., yet only about one-third
of all exports. The NMEI helps small and medium-sized manufacturers that are
currently exporting to one or two countries expand their export sales to new
markets.

This week I have had the privilege of attending the 2011
Paris Air Show, the largest aerospace industry show in the world. Since
arriving on Sunday, I’ve participated in numerous industry events, met with
CEOs, governors, ministers, members of congress and association
representatives.

Yesterday, I presided over the opening ceremony for the U.S.
Pavilion with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood, Hawaii senator
Daniel Inouye, Alabama senator Richard Shelby, and Secretary of the Air Force
Michael Donley. More than 200 U.S.
companies are displaying their innovative and forward-thinking technology here.

The U.S. aerospace industry is a strategic contributor to
the economy, national security, and technological innovation of the United
States The industry contributed $78 billion in export sales to the U.S. economy
in 2010 and is important to achieve the goals of the President’s export initiative.

The aerospace sector in the United States supports more jobs
through exports than any other industry.

From the first thread of upholstery for seat cushions to the
final gallon of paint for the exterior, American manufacturers, large and
small, are contributing to the construction of an airplane. While many
Americans see an airplane as one item, it is really a feat of modern
engineering and planning with thousands of parts being assembled all across America to create
the single airplane. In fact, according to a 2008 study by the U.S. Department
of Commerce, aerospace supports more jobs through exports than any other
industry. The U.S. aerospace industry directly supports about 430,000
jobs and indirectly supports more than 700,000 additional jobs.

This week at the Paris
Air Show, civil and military aircraft manufacturers and those engaged in
the burgeoning space vehicle market will show off their products to buyers from
all over the world. Selling internationally is vital for America to meet the
President’s goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015 in order to support millions
of jobs. The aerospace industry contributed $78 billion in export sales to the U.S.
economy in 2010. The industry’s 2010 positive trade balance of $44 billion is
the largest trade surplus of any manufacturing industry and came from exporting
42% of all aerospace production and 72% of civil aircraft and component
production.

For all manufacturers, ITA has the Manufacture America Initiative
that connects U.S. manufacturers
with resources to help them be more competitive in the global marketplace,
regardless of market. Boeing has been an active participant in the Manufacture
America Initiative for the aerospace industry and the MAS Aerospace Team website
is full of resources and contacts for U.S. aerospace manufacturers and their
suppliers.

I grew up
with the phrase “American Ingenuity” to describe the monumental accomplishments
of our time. I grew up in a time that “Made in America” was the norm and made
somewhere else meant inferior. We were proud to manufacture the best and supply
the world. That was American Innovation and manufacturing might. We were the
best at everything.

I started my
company as a service business but soon realized that I was only trading hours
for dollars. I had limited myself because
there are only so many hours in a day.
My income also fluctuated with the local economy. I turned to
manufacturing because it was limitless and selling products on the global level
insulated me from the ups and downs of my local economy. Starting with what I
knew, Bogert Aviation became a FAA Certified parts manufacturer in 1986. My
philosophy, “We are going to make the very best products – or we aren’t going
to do it”. Over the years we started
other companies that manufacture a wide range of products. We call it the
Bogert Group.

I’ve got
news for you. American Ingenuity and Innovation are alive and well. Most of the
best new products and technologies have been created in the good old USA. Our
young people are creative and inventive when encouraged. We just need to create an environment that
fosters innovative thought.

Business investment in America creates and supports millions
of jobs, while generating economic growth and opportunities in communities
throughout the United States.

Today at the Business Round Table in Washington, D.C., we
announced a new initiative – SelectUSA – the first-ever government-wide program
to aggressively pursue and win new business investment in the United States by
both domestic and foreign companies.

America has the most appealing investment environment in the
world, with the largest consumer market, an educated workforce, strong
intellectual-property protections and open capital markets.

More than 5 million Americans are directly employed by foreign
companies in the U.S., ranging from Japanese carmakers to British banks to
Indian energy and industrial companies.

But at a time when competition for business investment is more
intense than ever, the U.S. is the only developed economy in the world without
a national-level investment program and advocacy program.

In recent years we have been losing ground in attracting and
retaining business investment to better coordinated foreign competitors.

Guest Blog Post by Laura Barmby, the Program
Officer for the President’s "E" Awards. In
this capacity, she coordinates the submission and review of applications for
this Presidential Award, working with an inter-agency committee.

In honor of our nation’s manufacturers, I wanted to highlight for you a few of the companies that received the award this year that manufacture unique products. What caught my attention was that this year we have three winners who took a product found in nature and improved it through a manufacturing process to make a great new product.

Here are a few things these companies have in common:

All take something from nature and make it into a product to support health and nutrition

All invest back into research and product development

All create jobs

Think
about the jobs created by these companies: farmers, scientists,
assembly and manufacturing support, shipping, distribution, marketing.

If
you have a product or service that you would like to export, visit Trade.gov to find out how to contact your nearest U.S. Export
Assistance Center. With 108 centers nationwide, exporting help is right
around the corner!